Hands That Heal
by Ducki311
Summary: After the war, Sakura's entry to ANBU reveals that the organization is much different than it seems. Her time of healing, learning, and becoming the most lethal medic of her time leads her on a long, complicated journey. Romance! Drama! Action! KakaSaku
1. Naivete

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

She'd been the one to kill him.

Out there, on that barren, brutal battlefield, only days after the beginning of the war, it was over. He'd been _naïve_. He'd thought she was still a little, helpless, star-struck twelve-year-old girl who could no more strike him than Naruto could live without ramen. He'd thought she would drop everything and go with him, go live in an illusion of happiness in order to produce his children because she held in her heart an irrevocable love for him.

He'd been wrong. So, so wrong. So incredibly trusting. It was ironic.

She had been in the middle of the destruction, trying to save lives. Kakashi was nearly dead on the ground from his rampage, with just barely enough chakra left over to maintain function. Function, not even consciousness. She couldn't lose her sensei again. Not when the first time he'd died, because of Pein, she'd punched him so hard his jaw had broken (she had punched without chakra) and demanded he never do something so stupid in the name of anything _ever_ again. Not when her shishou had been unconscious for two months with no sign of improvement before waking three years ago; not when she had spent hours every single one of those days, eyes glazed over, crying in front of the cenotaph. Not when she'd seen so much destruction in the past few years, the past few _days_. Sakura was strong now. She could save. She could protect. Kakashi would not die, her friends would not die, she would not die, but the enemy would. Kami forbid somebody try and stop her.

She'd been in middle of that warzone, in the midst of an odd lull in fighting. Her hands had been glowing green, her brow slick with sweat and furrowed in concentration, as she brought her (_useless, stupid, inconsiderate, foolish_) sensei back from the brink of death again. Distantly she could hear Naruto and Killer Bee screaming at Tsunade and the Raikage about being let in on the battle, and then he was there.

"Sakura."

She startled, looking up from her work without stopping the flow of chakra. Her eyes grew wide and the flow faltered.

"S-s-sasuke…kun," she managed.

"You are done here. Come with me. My goals and your dreams now coincide." His eyes were black, and cold. No love. No passion. Cold, calculating. But he extended a hand. She accepted.

"Oh, Sasuke-kun… I've waited for so long. I promised you I would… Is there no way…?" She trailed off, leaving the unspoken question to hang in the air. He dropped her hand.

"Hn." No. There would be no fucking way he'd go back to Konoha. Sakura's expression shifted slightly, looking almost sad.

"Then… Can I- can I kiss you?" She got no response, but he did not flinch as she drew closer and rested her hands first on his shoulders, then slowly wrapped around to fist her left in his never-changing hair and rest on her right on his exposed neck. She closed her eyes and leaned in, almost on tip-toe, as her lips met his.

He was smiling. He would revive his clan. She was too. He wouldn't.

As their lips met, the green chakra that had never completely left her right hand pulsed almost imperceptibly, razor-sharp and directed. No. Scalpel-sharp. His knees buckled and she caught him, hand now clearly glowing.

The smile on her lips was wickedly pleased and heart-crushingly bitter. A completely severed spinal cord, just below the first vertebrae. The only evidence was a faint pink scar embedded in his hair line. Dead before he hit the ground, only three drops of blood spilled – one for each of the tomoe spinning in his eyes that had caught her deception one half-second too late. Chakra scalpel.

Hands that heal…

Tsunade had told her once that the key to putting a person back together was knowing how a person came apart. Healing reverses being destroyed.

Ibiki had told her once that people are creatures of habit and that opinions are hard to change (watching Naruto and the people of Konohagakure had further ingrained this fact into her mind). Once a weakling, always a weakling.

Shizune had told her once, and only once, (it was so important that needing to be told more than once would have proved Sakura unworthy of being Tsunade's apprentice) to never give Tsunade money. Addicts always come back for more.

He would have finished putting his life back together with the restoration of his clan, and his eyes she would always be simple, adoring, willing (_weak, useless, frightened_) Sakura. She could never pose a threat to his well-being. He'd been drawn to her like an alcoholic to strong whiskey.

She threw his body over her shoulder and picked up Kakashi. She couldn't leave him on the battlefield in his condition.

Making her way to the tents, Sakura shrugged Sasuke off of her shoulder in front of Tsunade and Naruto, effectively ending their bickering. He landed roughly on the grounds and his head rolled at a strange angle. The shock written on Naruto's expression exhausted his ability to speak.

"Shisou, this war is over." Her eyes were cold and angry as she walked off to the make-shift hospital tents, Kakashi still passed out in her arms, to finish her interrupted healing.

She took two steps and Tobi – no – _Madara_ materialized out of thin air sixty feet above her and fell with a sickening crunch at her feet.

Sakura screamed. Naruto jumped in front of her, crouched and growling with kunai drawn. She still held on to their sensei. Tsunade was at their side instantly.

"What is it Sakur- OH KAMI ABOVE!" She punched down hard, no hesitation, shattering any hopes the body on the ground had of being alive.

Madara did not move. He did not seem to breathe. He did not disappear in a swirl of leaves or a puff of smoke or time or whatever it was that his strange technique did.

"Naruto, hold Kakashi-sensei," Sakura ordered. She bent down, two fingers pressing against the man's neck.

No pulse.

Sakura stood, smiling an honest, genuine smile while Tsunade's hand glowed green, performing an inspection.

"Ne, Tsunade-shishou, I believe you just lost a bet."

"I don't have time for this right now, Sakura. Naruto, go take Kakashi to Shizune. NOW!" Garbling incomprehensible nonsense, Naruto ran off with his important delivery.

"Shishou, you owe me a raise at the hospital! Madara's immortality is clearly linked to having clan survivors. Sasuke died, he died. War over."

"NOT NOW SAKURA!" Tsunade growled. "Take Sasuke and Madara to Ibiki and Inoichi. You will give me the full story when you return. Haul ass. "

Roughly yanking the bodies up, Sakura sprinted off towards the united army's base.

The war was not over yet.

So, I feel like this is short, but what do you all think?

I'm excited to keep writing!

Ja ne~


	2. Explanation

Here we are again!

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

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><p>She had not said a single word to Ibiki or Inoichi when she dropped off the bodies. She had nothing to say and they knew what to do. Their bodies would be searched and any information they could still retrieve from Sasuke and Madara's minds would be forcefully yanked out.<p>

Sakura doubted they'd be able to find anything. The Uchiha were dead. There's no conscious left inside a corpse. She doubted there would be anything other than insanity inside their heads anyway. Sakura ran off to find Tsunade and give her report, shaking her head as if it would help her forget the war.

"Sakura-chan, I need you to describe _in detail_ how you killed Uchiha Sasuke and Uchiha Madara," said Tsunade, nursing a bottle of sake. The other kages gathered in the headquarters looked at the alcohol with a mixture of disapproval and want written across their faces. It had been a long day. Yesterday had been a long day. Tomorrow would be a long day. War.

"I had been assessing Kakashi-sensei's, eh, Hatake Kakashi-san's," she clarified, "condition, out on the battlefield. He was nearly dead from chakra exhaustion and I hadn't wanted to move him because I was unsure of the extent of his injuries. They were rather severe and it looked like he had decided to take on the entire enemy army on his own. There were various lacerations on his extremities and the third and fourth digits on his left hand were broken at the first knuckle. He'd lost a significant amount of blood." The Raikage made a motion along the lines of 'get on with it' and she frowned. They wanted the whole story, they would get the _whole damn story_, Sakura fumed, medical details and all.

"I believe the tenketsu at his hips were closed and still are," Sakura continued. "I will require a Hyuuga to aid me with those. It's a wonder he fell on his back. He was pierced through the right shoulder with a lance. Through this wound he lost the most blood. It seems that his vest protected his abdomen and back from the brunt of the attacks. He will need a new one, but there was only one deep wound on his stomach and it did not pierce any vital organs."

The Raikage was not happy with her for not getting to the important part yet.

"It appears he was bitten twice on the left thigh by a large animal, probably of the feline family, and," Sakura twitched a small smile, "it seems he forgot to pay attention where he was going and stepped on a kunai. He'll need a new pair of sandals. After finishing my assessment, I began to heal his most urgent wound, the one on his shoulder, as it was still bleeding rather profusely. It was when I had nearly finished closing the wound when I heard my name called. When I turned to see, it was Uchiha Sasuke standing over me."

It was so silent in the room that a pin dropping would have made a comparably loud noise.

"Those of you who do not know: I spent the vast majority of my life infatuated with this man. I thought my love could change him. I didn't believe that he was evil, insane, deranged, or criminal. Just misguided. I thought he would come back to me someday, apologize for what he had done and all the years he'd ignored my existence, then sweep me off my feet to live happily ever after. My life goal had been to help him revive his clan and bring it back to glory." Sakura paused, looking the congregation in front of her in the eyes.

"I changed my mind when he killed his own teammate in front of us and blamed it on her for getting in the way. I would lay down my life for my country, yes, but I would also lay it down for my family, my friends, and my team. They come first. It is nobler to lay down one's life for one's teammates than to murder one for the sake of the mission. It is nobler to rescue a dying comrade and fail an assignment than to leave them behind to die. This goes against the Shinobi Code, I am aware, but it is also something a very important person taught me, from the very first instant I was put into his guidance."

There were a few angry faces among the leaders now, as if to say, "How dare she lecture _us_!" or "She has no place to go against the code!"

"Haruno-san, pray tell, how does this have to do with the demise of Uchiha Sasuke?" One of the Kages she did not recognized asked, a rather annoyed expression on her face.

"I killed him," she gave the woman a hard glare, "with my _bare hands_. Does that answer your question? I killed the man who used to be the love of my life because he was too naïve. Yes, the great Uchiha Sasuke was _naïve_," she stressed, "in that he trusted I would still go with him. He appeared behind me, told me my time with Konohagakure was over and that I was to go with him. He had the gall to say that his goals and my dreams now coincided. Not that he loved me, not that he wanted me. He didn't get down on one knee and ask me to marry him, that BASTARD!" Sakura punched the table in front of her and it splintered in half. "I played the part of the weak, adoring Sakura he had always known. The crybaby. I asked if he'd go back to Konoha and he wouldn't. So I asked to kiss him." She looked down, not willing to make eye contact with so many strangers that were now privy to her scandal.

"He didn't say no. So I approached and did as any girl would. I put a hand in his hair and a hand in his neck and drew in close. He didn't have his sharingan active; he even closed his eyes. He was that trusting. I can tell you he even smiled as he died." Her voice was quiet and resentful, full of anger and daring anyone to interrupt her. "When I kissed him I used my chakra scalpel on his neck to sever his spinal cord. It went all the way through. I healed the skin and muscle tissues, so there is not a noticeable mark on him. There may be a faint, pink scar in his hairline, about an inch long. He only lost about three drops of blood. It was quick, efficient, and painless, even though he deserved years of torture before death. He thought he would achieve his final goal and I betrayed him. He'll burn in hell." Sakura turned and began to leave the stunned silence behind her.

"Wait, Sakura-chan," Tsunade summoned. "They need to know what happened after."

Sakura sighed. She hadn't had enough sleep and there were still hours and hours of work for her to do in the medical tents she wanted to get back to.

"After he died, I threw him over my shoulder and picked up Kakashi-sensei because he still needed urgent care. I brought Sasuke to Tsunade-shishou as fast as possible. I dropped him in front of her and made to leave to the hospital tents when Uchiha Madara dropped out of the sky and landed at my feet, dead. I have reason to believe his immortality jutsu was linked to the survival of his clan. Once Sasuke died, he did too. I sent Uzumaki Naruto to the hospital tents with Kakashi-sensei and took Sasuke and Madara's bodies to Ibiki and Inoichi in interrogation on Tsunade-shishou's orders. I am now here in front of you giving my report, as commanded. May I now go and resume tending to the wounded?" She sounded exasperated and annoyed. There was work to be done.

The Kage Sakura did not know spoke up. "Haruno-san, if you would please, step outside for a moment and wait for us to bring you back in?" Sakura nodded and walked out. She slumped against the side of the wooden building.

'Yamato-taicho must have built the headquarters,' she mused. 'It looks so much like our "camping" housing when we go on missions…'

She pressed an ear against the door, but not a sound escaped. She was certain that everyone gathered was yelling at the top of their lungs and that it would be a while before she was called back in. Sakura wished they had just dismissed her and sent a runner to get her when they finished their arguing. It would be a while and the damn silence wards kept her from knowing what they were saying.

It was only ten minutes before she was called back inside. Surprised, she walked in quickly. There was a restored air of formality and general stuffiness. Tsunade stood to make an announcement.

"Haruno Sakura," she said, "as of this moment, for the killing of two internationally wanted and incredibly dangerous criminals with an original and highly effective use of medical jutsu, you are promoted to jounin. Congratulations." She smiled, her expression softening. "I am proud of you for coming so far in so little time, Sakura-chan. In addition to your promotion, you will be awarded the bounty on Uchiha Sasuke's head. As he had already been presumed dead for over a century, there was no bounty for Uchiha Madara. And of course, for winning our bet, you get a pay raise at the hospital." The Kages groaned in good humor. The Legendary Sucker had struck out again.

"Now go and finish your work for today. There shouldn't be too much left. You are dismissed."

"Hai, Tsunade-Sishou. Arigato!" Sakura disappeared in a whirl of wind and leaves with the largest smile she'd worn in a long time. Promotion, pay raise, and a massive bounty? She practically skipped through the hospital tents.

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><p>It was dark and she had worked for hours. There were so many injured, Sakura could only wonder how much longer this battle could rage on. After all they had done, even after the head of this operation and his main pawn were dead, the reanimated bodies kept fighting. More fighting, more dead, more wounded. It was never-ending. Sakura stepped into her final patient for the night.<p>

"Ne, Kakashi-sensei, I know you're awake. Open your eyes and tell me what still needs fixing." The man on the cot continued to feign sleep without a single twitch.

"If you're still unconscious then, I'm going to go ahead and check for wounds under your mask. Then I suppose I'll read the last page of this Icha Icha that somebody brought you out loud, just to know how it ends…" Sakura grinned. It seemed that the pervy books followed Kakashi wherever he went with as much commitment as Jaraiya-sama had to spying on bath-houses. She sat down on a stool next to the cot, and reached over, first pulling Kakashi's hitai-ite over his sharingan eye, then slowly hooking her fingers under his mask.

"Ah, Sakura-chan! I was wondering when you would arrive!" Kakashi sat up quickly on the bed, simultaneously disarming her attempt to see his face and pretending to stretch his arms over his head. He flinched. "Ow."

Sakura pushed him back down on the cot. "You nearly died, baka. Lie down and stay still. Besides your shoulder, what hurts? Has somebody come to fix your tenketsu? What about your fingers, have they been repaired? Have you received a new vest and pair of sandals?"

Kakashi sweat-dropped. "Eh, I'm not sure. I can move my fingers, so they've been fixed, and I don't know about anything else."

"Stand up so I can inspect you," Sakura commanded. Kakashi stood up successfully, if rather hunched inside the tent.

"Good. Now push chakra to your feet," she ordered. Kakashi tried, and promptly fell forwards from the pain of forcefully stopped chakra. Prepared for this, Sakura caught him and pushed him back down on the cot.

"Your tenketsu haven't been unblocked. You seem otherwise stable, so I'll finish healing your shoulder and then send a Hyuuga to fix your hips. Now take stay still." She pushed back the material of his undershirt and performed a few seals. Her hands glowed green and she focused on the damaged area, mending the tissues and tendons, layer by layer, before closing up the skin.

"Good, I believe we're done here," said Sakura, deactivating her jutsu. "Rest well, sensei. You'll be okay to fight tomorrow. Someone will be here to unblock your tenketsu shortly."

Kakashi eyed her seriously. "Get some sleep and don't push yourself too hard either. A tired shinobi is a dead shinobi and we need medics. And as my student, if you die, I'll kill you." He smiled his one-eyed smile.

"Hai, Hai," she flapped her hand dismissively. "I'll check on you tomorrow, sensei. Goodnight." She smiled, and made to stand and leave. Sakura swayed slightly, faltered, and blacked out from exhaustion. Catching her, Kakashi sighed and pulled Sakura up onto the cot. "Nobody ever believes that sensei knows best these days," he muttered to himself, before pulling (yet another) Icha Icha out of his vest to read before going to sleep.

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><p>How about it? Two updates in two days!<p>

I'll take suggestions, comments, criticisms, ideas, sandwiches, what-have-you.

Ja ne!


	3. Madness

I don't own Naruto.

New to the chapters: POETRY

Tell me what you think!

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><p>Bloody Destruction<p>

White Bodies Strewn Carelessly

White Zetsu Invades

Peacefully Sleeping

Tucked Against Bodily Warmth

Could This Be New Love?

Screams. Blood. Bodies.

Death. Destruction. Massacre.

Unexpected. War.

_Run, run, punch, kick, jab, dodge, JUMP. Push, parry, grab, throw, slit throat. Break the ground. Run. Run. Run. Wake everyone. Scream. Zetsu. So many Zetsu. There's no time. Scream. Broken hand. Invasion. Attack by night. Kakashi-sensei at my back. Naruto is glowing red. Dodge. Throw kunai. Push Kakashi-sensei out of the way. Mobbed. Punch, punch, punch, there are so many and they're on top of me, they're EVERYWHERE. I'm going to die. I'm going to die-I'm-going-to-die-I'mgoingtodie I'M GOING TO DIE- _

"!"

Sakura awakes with a jolt, sitting up and sweating profusely in the middle of the chilly night. She is disoriented and has no idea why her bed is so warm and Kakashi-sensei is _spooning _with her and how did she get there and there are people _screaming_ outside and oh-hell-no we're at war and she has no time to think about why she's not in her tent because it feels like two in the morning and the camp is being invaded and

"KAKASHI-SENSEI. Wake up," Sakura yell-whispers. The man doesn't budge. She shakes him and he bolts upright, kunai in hand, completely aware.

"We're being invaded, I need to fix your hips right now and it's going to hurt like a bitch. I'm sorry, pants off, boxers on, lie down, MOVE!" she orders, hands already glowing with green chakra. She hadn't wanted to try and unblock his tenketsu by herself because she couldn't be as accurate as someone with a byakugan, but she could try.

"Push chakra to your hips, just above where you felt the most pain yesterday. Don't you dare pass out on me. On three. One, two, three!" She focused, trying to detect the blockage. Kakashi was clearly uncomfortable – squirming, curling his toes, and grasping tight to the cot he was laying on.

"Sakura-chan, ow..." He was gritting his teeth, eyes closed.

"I need more chakra Kakashi-sensei. Bring it all the way to where you felt the most pain – point to it, I can't see it! Okay, THERE!" She jabbed with her chakra and Kakashi immediately relaxed. The scuffle drew nearer outside.

"I can't so any more than that so put your pants back on we need to go -" Her statement was cut off as their tent was ripped for the ground around them, singed and smoking. A heat wave flew over them from some unknown fire jutsu. Sakura gripped a kunai in her hand, let out a battle cry, and jumped into the fray.

There were white zetsu everywhere, crowding, dead on the ground, taking the forms of her best friends – this had to be some kind of hideous, disgusting nightmare because Ino doesn't smile like that (_gather chakra, punch, release_) and now not-Ino is dead on the ground (_why don't those abominations bleed_?). She was surrounded as she made to take a step back, only to bump into somebody significantly taller than her. Sakura whirls around and it's Kakashi, and he's surrounded too – there must be at least eight of the fuckers with that stupid, malicious grin on their stolen faces. Shikamaru, Genma, three shinobi from other villages she doesn't recognize – no – make that four, Matsuri, and another Ino copy. They're slow and not using their abilities to the fullest extent. Sakura assumes they must be new copies as she crouches low to the ground. Won't see this coming, then.

"Kakashi-sensei..."

"Yes, Sakura-chan?" The man was making mincemeat of the copies as they came on with a katana he'd summoned from a scroll, practically dancing with his share – dodging, parrying, striking, repeating – but from the looks of things, he was exerting himself about as much as if he was drinking morning tea. Calm, cool, and collected, that was Kakashi.

"You might want to move."

"Ah."

Sakura slammed her fist into the ground as not-Shikamaru tried to grab her with his shadow. Her chakra exploded, sending fragments of compacted earth flying into the air with fatal velocity. Four of the remaining six clones are knocked flat. One is unconscious, another is dead. The other two are getting back up and throwing shurikens while the still-standing pair fly after Kakashi. Sakura notices that the Zetsu clones are getting faster and smarter as time passes. This is a fight that needs to end, fast.

"SHANARO!" Sakura yells, and kicks an unidentified shinobi clone in the head with enough force to crack his skull. She follows through with a sharp kunai to the throat and then begins a quick succession of seals.

"Sakura Fubuki no Jutsu!" The sky fills with sakura petals that begin to rain down exploding kunai. The unconscious white Zetsu is now most certainly dead and her remaining live targets pose no more threat. Their bodies are littered with lethal cuts – one is missing an arm, the other looks like his chest exploded. Dead. No threat. Checking herself over, Sakura notices no real to her body.

'It mus be my lucky day,' she muses wryly. 'Those clones were absolute idiots...'

Sakura begins to head after still more of the invading army, when she notices shadow clones of Narutos all around her, fighting off the invasion. One Naruto running up to her, pell-mell, looking pissed.

"Sakura-chan, Baa-chan needs you now fast!" He disappears in a puff of smoke.

Half a seal later and Sakura has disappeared in a puff of smoke – no time for her usual flurry of sakura petals – to land in front of a very angry, very sober Tsunade. The woman was clearly agitated from not being allowed to fight, seeing as she had to manage all of the hospital tents and all of the medics. She was standing over a man with a pole sticking out of his chest and half of his innards sticking out, furiously trying to keep him alive.

"It's about damn time you got here! Now pull that spear out and get healing." Amazed that her shishou could work with such efficiency at such a god-awful hour with no apparent sake nearby, Sakura merely nodded and obeyed orders. Her lips set in a grim line as she put a foot on the man's chest and heaved the offending weapon out with no warning. The man screamed and passed out from pain, but there was no time to contemplate anything as Sakura's hands glowed green and she set to save his life alongside Tsunade. The spear had punctured his lung, and Sakura decided that it was good that he had passed out – movement would have made the healing more difficult, and fixing a punctured lung was already a delicate procedure.

"I can take over this one from here, Tsunade-shishou. He's almost done," Sakura said, waving a free hand at the almost completely closed wound in his chest and the similarly mended abdominal trauma. "He won't die." Tsunade nodded brusquely and marched out of the tent. Sakura began to hum under her breath as she finished the work. It was an odd habit among field medic nins – not many of them did it – but Sakura found that it helped her concentrate better than complete silence. It was a quirk that had found more popularity in the hospital, probably due to the less dire circumstances found there. It was easier to be happy in a hospital full of those being nursed back to health than on a battlefield full of those being pulled back from the grip of death.

She finished her work and walked outside to head to the next patient, but was again pulled aside. It was Shikamaru, taking her to Strategies and Tactics. The sun was beginning to come up over the horizon, and he looked as if he hadn't slept since the first day of the war. The invasion of white zetsu had been abolished and the odd war-calm had settley back in. Shikamaru was required to fight during the day, but he was also needed to help with intelligence and the movement of the army. Sakura didn't envy his job, but she mused that most people didn't envy hers, either.

"There is an area where it seems that a powerful genjustsu has dropped, two miles north-northwest of here," he explained as they walked. "It seems that this occurred shortly after the death of Uchiha Madara. Intel on the area states that it is a likely area for enemy leaders to hide and command their army. We have suspicion that the remaining general is Yakushi Kabuto. While he was believed dead, he is the only remaining person capable of performing the reincarnation jutsu. It is certain, without a doubt, that Madara and Sasuke are dead, and because we have proof that Sasuke killed Orochimaru, it cannot be any of them." He paused to scan her reaction to the news.

"I know, Shikamaru," Sakura sighed, "because I'm the one who killed Sasuke. I thought you would have heard by now. They promoted me to jounin for it."

Shikamaru, somehow unfazed, simply nodded and assimilated the information, then continued his briefing, now speaking more quickly. "You are going with a team of five plus a clone and are to leave immediately. There is a pack ready and waiting for you at Tactics. It is imperative that your infiltatration of the enemy base be silent and undetected. Hyuuga Hinata and Hyuuga Neji are going with you, as well as Aburame Shino and Hatake Kakashi. A Naruto clone will go with you as bait. He is not permitted to go with you in person as the nature of this war is to protect him. As such, you will be the brute force behind this mission. You are second in command, and Kakashi-sensei will lead. Good luck." They arrived at Strategies and Tactics, where the team was already gathered. Sakura picked up her pack and looked at Kakashi, who nodded, and head off at a dead sprint towards the possible enemy base.

* * *

><p>They were utterly silents as they flew through the trees. The team did not so much as have radios to communicate with. Complete and utter silence and secrecy was the object of the missions – success or death were the likely only two options. As the team neared the area, Hinata stopped on a branch and motioned the others to do the same. She signaled (<em>hideout, one entrance, no guards, metal doorway<em>), then focused her byakugan further and raised her eyebrows in surprise (_one ninja_). Sakura nodded. She would be the one to knock down the door. Clone Naruto would barge in and attempt to beat the target into submission before being dispelled. Shino's bugs would follow to sap the target's chakra, with Neji following close behind. Shino would stand guard outside the door and Hinata would stay with him. Should any problems arise after Naruto's clone was dispelled, she was to run back through the lines and get backup. Sakura would follow Neji in, and Kakashi would enter last as the trump card.

Hinata motioned Sakura forward, and she ran at the base with all she had, gathering chakra into her right fist, with Naruto-clone fast on her heels. The door collapsed with a massive bang, clearly alerting whoever was inside of visitors. The clone ran inside haphazardly, a battle cry ripping from its lungs with all the intensity that the real Naruto could muster. Neji, Sakura, and Kakashi followed in quick succession into the deepest chamber of the hideout. Deviating from the plan, Kakashi bit his thumb and slammed his palm against the wall as they ran.

"Kuchiyose no jutsu!" All eight of his ninken joined into the fray. "Suspect is Yakushi Kabuto, former ninja of the leave and servant of Orochimaru. Restrain and subdue, kill if necessary," stated Kakashi. "Do not, under any circumstances, let him escape." Ahead they could hear the crash-bang of Naruto in battle, yelling out the usual profanities of his big fight speeches. He sounded infuriated and almost incredulous, then the clone was killed and the noise stopped. The ninken charged ahead of Sakura and Neji, leading them and Kakashi into a small, rectangular room where they immediately jumped and held down its lone occupant, Yakushi Kabuto.

He sat there, pinned by ninken, with a slap-happy grin on his face as he giggled madly. "Oh, I suppose you've got me now, no? Teehee, this was certainly fun. How are you enjoying my puppets? All of the dead I raised? Oh, this is fun. Fun, fun, fun. Too bad Orochimaru-sama couldn't see this. You know, you'll never get Madara, hahaha. He's undefeateable. I would know, I tried." He snickered, and drool began to come out of the side of his mouth. "No, your army will be quite useless against him. Yep yep yep. You're going to die."

As Kabuto rambled, Neji guarded in front of him, gently fist poised and ready to strike the man's heart. Sakura stood behind, with a kunai pointing at the back of his neck. Kakashi was drawing a seal onto a scroll, and he appeared almost disturbed by the insane man.

As if he had just noticed the threats on his life coming from all side, Kabuto frowned slightly. "Oh, this just won't do. I can't let you kill me, what would be the fun in that? Step back dears, or I'll hurt you too. No, no, no, this game I want to play on my own terms. Teehee. Are you ready? Here we go!" Kabuto made to move and Sakura immediately lunged forward, severing his neck, as Neji slammed his palm into his chest. The ninken bit down hard, and the snapping of bones could be heard. Blood pooled out from inside Kabuto's mouth and his eyes rolled back into his head, still smiling. Sakura peered inside.

"He bit his tongue in half. Suicide. He's dead at least three different ways. Chakra exhaustion from the bugs would have gotten him soon too." The kikkai on Kabuto's body buzzed slightly, as if they were disappointed that their meal had ended so abruptly. Kakashi dismissed his ninken and sealed the criminal's body into the scroll he had been preparing.

"Set the bombs. Five minutes. Then we go." Kakashi ran outside to inform Hinata and Shino, who doubtlessly already knew do to the kikkai, as Sakura and Neji quickly set exploding tags and ran out of the hideout.

The remains of the hideout after the massive explosion included only a massive crater formed into the side of a once-grassy hill.

* * *

><p>They arrived at the allied headquarters, where there appeared to be a large commotion. Shikamaru appeared and ushered them off to the side.<p>

"There was an appearance by a now ex-Akatsuki agent, Zetsu, in the middle of the headquarters," he explained. "A large plant-like structure materialized out of the ground, and him with it. He was protected by some incredibly powerful jutsu, and all he did was hold up his hands, apologize for the clones because they weren't his creation, and inform the Kages that the war was over. He said he did not want any more part in this struggle than they did and he was sorry for the casualties. Then he sunk back into the ground and disappeared. Shortly after, we received word that all of dead reincarnate had died again, and the battles were over. It appears this war has reached its end."

Kakashi strolled into the middle of the arguing village leaders. "Yo. Yakushi Kabuto, last remaining enemy leader." He tossed the scroll over his shoulder and walked out of the building. "I'm going to go... rescue a cat... out of a tree..." Tsunade broke what must have been her fifth table and yelled: "CALL ALL OF THE GENERALS. RETRIEVE THE ARMIES. THIS WAR IS OVER!" And with that, she slammed a fresh bottle of sake.

* * *

><p>With the arrival of morning, the entire war operation had come to a screeching halt. By the end of the week, the dead had been retrieved, identified, and buried. By the end of the eighth day, the wounded were healed and treaties had been made. By the morning of the ninth, the army was packed up and disbanded, each village on its way home. The war was over. The war was won. Akatsuki was no more.<p>

* * *

><p>Ooooh that was tough.<p>

Also, I feel like these chapters are too short.

Suggestions? I'll take anything!

Ja ne~


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